Rishe catalogs a number of possible lawsuit scenarios if, as is expected, the university is deemed liable for negligence or misconduct in Sullivan's death. Unless, Riche explains, it turns out that Sullivan was up on the lift without permission or if he was told to come down but ignored the demand, "the athletics department staff will shoulder between 80-100% of the blame for this incident."

Rishe explains that compensatory damages differ by state, but generally:

the law provides for (a) expenses incurred by the death of the victim (e.g. funeral, medical, etc.), (b) loss of future earnings anticipated over the victim's lifetime, and (c) pain, suffering and mental anguish incurred by survivors (in this case, the parents and sibilings of Mr. Sullivan).

Add this to punitive damages, which are meant to deter future incidents, and in Indiana can be as much as three times the amount of the compensatory award. According to Rishe, the plaintiff can receive up to 25% of that total, which could be a really big number. He concludes:

if compensatory damages are awarded in a fashion consistent with the calculations herein, AND if hit with the maximum allowable punitive damages...the Declan Sullivan tragedy may cost the University of Notre Dame between $15-20M in compensatory damages and another $45-60M in punitive damages. I estimate that the entire incident will cost Notre Dame $30M collectively in mostly compensatory damages with some punitive damages.